Reserve capacity attemperator



11, 1966 e. T. JONES, JR.. ETAL. 3,22

RESERVE CAPACITY ATTEMPERATOR Filed April 16, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1| DUMP STEAM SYSTEM I9 DIVERSION VALVE \Qb [l3 SUPERHEATER W I l! IO ATTEMPERATOR |5b CON DENSATE PUMP Y WWI \l 9 CONDENSER 3| TURBINE VA LVE l9 DIVERSION I50 BOILER INVENTORS GEORGE T JONES, JR. LESLIE L. FORSTER ATTORNEY Jan. 11, 1966 1-. JONES, JR., ETAL 3,228,667

RESERVE CAPACITY ATTEMPERATOR Filed April 16, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FROM THE SUPERHEATER AND THE BOILER FROM A CONDENSATE SUPPLY 2 INVENTORS TO THE CONDENSER 650955 77 JONES R.

LES/E L. FORSTER ATTORNEY United States Patent cc v This invention relates to steam condensers and more particularly to an improved attemperator for such steam condensers and for reducing the temperature of the steam which is to b'e con'densed.

Heretofore, it has been known that steam from a boiler or a superheater is fed to a turbine where the steam drives the turbine and thereby does work; vIn the course of driving the turbine the temperature of the steam is reduced. From the turbine the used steam is exhausted into a condenser where the steam is condensed.

In the case of the occurrence of an emergency condition such as apower failure in the power plant, a safety device, suchas a diversion valve, in theboiler and in'the superheater acts to discharge the steam in a dump steam line, which dump. steam line by-passes the turbine and discharges thensteam from the. superheater, or the boiler, directly to the condenser. However, the steam in the dump steam line is hot steam capable of causing great damage to the condenser and other equipment in its path. In addition, during the emergency condition the coventional condenser is not provided with suflicient condensate to condense and cool the hot steam. No provision has heretofore been devised in conventional systems to provide an additional supply of condensate, which condensate would automatically be utilized to reduce the temperature of the hot dump steam before it flowed to the condenser and caused damage to the condenser.

3,228,667 1 Patented Jan. 11, 1966 border to receive and conduct steam flow the attemperator 10 is provided with flow means, such as a pipe 12. The attemperator 10 is adapted to be installed in a dumpsteamsystem 11' (FIG. 1) of a superheater 13 and abo'ilrlSii by connecting pipe 12 to the steam piping 11erthe dump steam system 11. The dump steam, systemll serves as a steam by-pass system for a standard turbine 31. Connecting pipe 12 can be connected to the steam piping 17 by any number of well known methods, such as welding, screwing, etc.

Reservoir means, such as atank 14 (FIG. 2) or a large diameter pipe is connected around the pipe 12. The connection between the tank 14 and the pipe 12 is a liquid't ight connection, which connection is accomplished by any number of well known methods such as welding. The tank'14 is provided with condensate 15 by any number of well known means such as a condensate pump 15b connected to' a source of condensate supply such as the condenser 29.

A chamber defining means, such as an orifice plate 16, is disposed in pipe 12 and cooperates with the inner wall 18 of the pipe 1 2' to divide the pipe 12 into two chambers 20 and 22 (FIG. 2). The orifice plate 16, as will be seen from FIG. 2, includes a sharp-edged, tapering orifice 28a which communicates the two chambers 20 and 22.

' The occurrence 'of an emergency condition, such as a power failure, actuates a safety device, such as a diversion It is the general object of the present invention to avoid v and overcome the foregoing andother difiiculties of and objections to prior art practices by the provision of an attemperator which would automatically provide condensate to lower the temperature of the dump steam exhausted through the attemperator during emergency conditions.

means to automatically reduce the temperature of the steam when the steam is received by the first means.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals of reference indicate similar parts and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view of a condenser system incorporating the improved attemperator;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the improved attemperator.

With specific reference to the form of the present invention illustrated in the drawings, and referring particularly to FIGURE 2, an attemperator is indicated generaily by the reference numeral 10.

Although the principles of the present invention are broadly applicable to all systems embodying the reduction of the pressure and the temperature of a gaseous substance, the present invention is particularly adapted for use in conjunction with a dump steam system and hence it has been so illustrated and will be so described.

valve '19 (FIG. 1),"connected to the superheater 23 and the boiler 15a and causes the safety device 19 to discharge hot steam into the dump steam system 11. The hot steam 24 travels in the steam piping 1 7 of the dump steam 11 to the attemperator 10 which is connected in the dump steam piping 17. Thehot steam enters the upstream side 26 of the connecting pipe 12 and flows through the atte'inperator 10 as indicated by the arrows in FIGURE 2. As the hot steam 24 flows through the orifice plate 16 a 'venacontracta is formed at 28- and thereafter the stear'n 'eirpands chamber 22 audit flows out of the attemp'eratorlmon to the condenser 29 (FIG. 1).

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that as the steam flows through the pipe 12 the chamber 20 as viewed in FIGURE 2'will be under a higher pressure than the lower chamber 22.' In order to provide condensate to condense the hot steam 24 in the lower pressure chamber 22, conduit means, such as pipes 30, are disposed in the tank 14 and port means, such as ports 32, ar'efdis'posed in pipe 12. The pipes 30 communicate at one end '34 with the ports 32 and are open at the other end 36 just above the bottom 38 of the tank 14 to allow condensate 15 to'fiow up the pipes 30 through the ports 32 and into the lower chamber 22.

The tank14 is filled with condensatelS up to a predetermined level 36. This predetermined level 36 of the condensate 15 in the tank 14 can be checked and accurately controlled by any number of well known methods such as a liquid level controller or a glass gage 37. The tank 14, since it is not fully filled with condensate 15, is left with an empty portion 38. In order to conduct steam from the high pressure or upper chamber 20 into the empty portion 38 of the tank 14, port means, such as ports 40 are disposed in connecting pi e 12 communicating with the high pressure chamber 20. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that when hot steam 24 is flowing through the pipe 12 a diiference in pressure will result between the pressure in the high pressure chamber 20 and the pressure in the lower chamber 22. In addition, steam 24 will flow from the high pressure chamber 20 into the empty portion of the tank 14 and since the pressure in the high pressure chamber 20 is greater than the pressure of the lower chamber 22, the steam 24 will push the condensate 15 into the lower temperature of the steam 24-flowing through the lower chamber 22. I z

Operation Even though it is believed the operation of the apparatus will be apparent from the foregoing description, a brief review of such operation will now be made for purposes of summary and simplification. Normally the attemperator is void of steam and is therefore under the same pressure as the condenser 29 (FIG. 1). In the event of the occurrence of an emergency condition s'uch as a power failure, the diversion valves 19 cause hot steam 24 to be dumped from the superheater 23 and the boiler a into the dump steam system 11. The hot steam 24 therefore, is caused to flowthrough the connecting pipe 12 of the attemperator 10. As the hot steam 24 flows through the orifice plate 16 and is ex: panded into the lower chamber 22 as viewed in FIGURE 2 it lowers the pressure in lower chamber 22 below the pressure in the upper chamber 20. Inaddition, steam from the upper chamber flows through the ports 40 into the empty portion 38 of the tank 14 and pushes the condensate 15 through the pipes and the ports 32 into the lower or low pressure chamber 22. As will be seen from the foregoing description, the condensate 15 thus supplied to the lower chamber 22 is proportional to the flow of the hot steam 24 from the upper chamber 20 to. the tank 14. The turbulence of the flow of the hot steam 24 and the condensate 15 in the lower chamber 22 serves to mix the hot steam 24and the condensate 15 intimately and thus reduce the'temperature of the hot prising: t 1 t v a reservoir located circ'umferentially around said con-.,

steam 24 before the hot steam flows on to the condenser provide condensate to reduce the temperature of hot steam flowing through it.; I While in accordance with patent statutes a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be particularly understood that the invention is not limited thereto or thereby. y

We claim: I a 1. An attemperator for reducing the temperatureof steam flowing through a conduit, said attemperator comprising: Y

a reservoir located adjacent said conduit and adapted for containing a supply of condensate fluid; I a wall within said conduit dividing such into a first chamber upstream of said wall and a second chamber downstream of said wall; v said wall including a sharp-edged orifice communicating said first and second chambers, said orifice tapering from said second chamber towards said first x i, 4 chamber to permit gradual expansion of steam flowing from said first chamber to said second chamber; a first fluid passage communicating said first chamber with said reservoir above the level of condensate fluid therein for directing steam from said first chamber to said reservoir uponjthe flow of steam through said conduit; and 7 t I a second fluid passage communicating said second chamber with said reservoir below thelevel of condensate fluid therein for directing a new of condensate fluid to said second chamber proportional to the flow of steam through said first fluid passage during the flow of steam through said first fluid passage. Y 2. An attemperator for reducingthe temperature of steam flowing through a conduit, said attemperator comduit and adapted for containing a supply of'condensate fluid;

a wall within said conduit dividing su'ch into a first chamber upstream "of said wall and a second cham-,, ber downstream of said wall;

said wall including asharp-edged orifice communicating said first and second chambers, said orifice tapering from said second chamber towards said first chamber to permit gradual expansion of steam flowing from said first chamber to said second chamber;

a first fluid passage communicating said first chamber with said reservoir above the level of condensate fluid therein fordirecting steam from said first chamber to said reservoir upon the flow of steam through said conduit; and t a second fluid passage communicating said second chamber with said reservoir below'the level of condensate fluid therein for directing a flow of condensate fluid to said second chamber proportional to the flow of steam through said first fluid passage during the flow of steam through said first fluid passage.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 424,764 4/1890 D'aVOl 261 1,393,499 10/1921 Christie 410 1,738,773 12/1929 Hesse 165110 2,317,814 4/1943 Schuchmann et al. 16511O 2,425,669 8/1947 Brock 165-111 2,522,743 9/ 1950 Brousseau et al. 261-'78 X 2,966,312 12/1960 Wilson t a1 26178 X 3,034,771 5/19'62 Harris 26l1 16 X HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner. RONALD'R. WEAVER, Examiner. 

1. AN ATTEMPERATOR FOR REDUCING THE TEMPERATURE OF STREAM FLOWING THROUGH A CONDUIT, SAID ATTEMPERATOR COMPRISING: A RESERVOIR LOCATED ADJACENT SAID CONDUIT AND ADAPTED FOR CONTAINING A SUPPLY OF CONDENSATE FLUID; A WALL WITHIN SAID CONDUIT DIVIDING SUCH INTO A FIRST CHAMBER UPSTREAM OF SAID WALL AND A SECOND CHAMBER DOWNSTREAM OF SAID WALL; SAID WALL INCLUDING A SHARP-EDGED ORIFICE COMMUNICATING SAID FIRST AND SECOND CHAMBERS, SAID ORIFICE TAPERING FROM SAID SECOND CHAMBER TOWARD SAID FIRST CHAMBER TO PERMIT GRADUAL EXPANSION OF STEAM FLOWING FROM SAID FIRST CHAMBER TO SAID SECOND CHAMBER; A FIRST FLUID PASSAGE COMMUNICATING SAID FIRST CHAMBER WITH SAID RESERVOIR ABOVE THE LEVEL OF CONDENSATE FLUID THEREIN FOR DIRECTING STEAM FROM SAID FIRST CHAMBER TO SAID RESERVOIR UPON THE FLOW OF STREAM THROUGH SAID CONDUIT; AND A SECOND FLUID PASSAGE COMMUNICATING SAID SECOND CHAMBER WITH SAID RESERVOIR BELOW THE LEVEL OF CONDENSATE FLUID THEREIN FOR DIRECTING A FLOW OF CONDENSATE FLUID TO SAID SECOND CHAMBER PROPORTIONAL TO THE FLOW OF STEAM THROUGH SAID FIRST FLUID PASSAGE DURING THE FLOW OF STREAM THROUGH SAID FIRST FLUID PASSAGE. 